Sunday, July 14, 2013

Sweet William - Kind Of Strangest Dream (2012) Re-released

French label Infrastition has re-issued this hypnotic album, originally released in 1992 (Hyperium Records). It’s a perfect opportunity to discover it for those who didn’t have a chance to do it before. For those who already knew this album, it has been re-mastered and enriched with two bonus tracks. The album starts with a welcoming song, “Day of the open doors”. It’s a quiet, acoustic guitar introduction, but spoken vocals are dark and strong. Oliver Heuer is inviting you to discover a tortured mind, a journey that starts without further delay, as the track “Spring” takes you out of sweet lethargy. Yes, this is gothic rock indeed! Next track is “A creation of my thoughts”, one of the long, psychedelic/hard rock influenced tracks on this album. With acoustic parts, guitar solos and variations, it’s an extremely intense and interesting song. Gothic rock wonder “18.01.1991” has got an exciting guitar riff, and vocals are half-spoken, half-sung. Then comes “A new thought”, set in two parts. First part, “The inner dialogue”, a dark nursery rhyme, is used as an introduction to “the irony of it all”. The title of the album comes from the lyrics of this track, a delight for guitar lovers. As this remarkable 13 minutes-song ends, no doubt you’ll find yourself asking for more. “Sweet smile glow” is a more classic gothic rock song of its time and makes an interesting foray into tribal percussions. With spoken track “A Wednesday night/A Thursday morning”, the German band demonstrates its ability to create a mesmerizing, gloomy atmosphere, using only its frontman’s strong voice, together with some altered voices in the background. It balances perfectly the rest of the album long, over-instrumental pieces. Last track of the original release, “An offer (that can’t be refused)” is the perfect ending to this trip into this strangest dream. As a conclusion to this re-issue, two acoustic bonus tracks have been added. One of them is the acoustic version of “A creation of my thoughts” recorded in 2012.

I can only recommend this re-release to everyone. Oliver Heuer’s vocals give passion and intensity to the band original blend of gothic/psychedelic rock. Definitely a very interesting and fascinating album, it will take you deep into the dream, a dream you won’t forget…